Student Athlete Advisory Committee (S.A.A.C.)

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL - MAAC GIVES BACK - 1/13/05

The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is now in its eleventh year of coordinating the “T.E.A.M. (Teachers Excited About Motivation) MAAC Gives Back” community outreach program. The program’s intent is to give back to the communities by motivating and exciting children about MAAC Basketball. This program has each of the MAAC schools’ men’s and women’s basketball teams, adopted by a middle or elementary school class in the Albany and Buffalo regions. The children exchange correspondence with players and coaches from their adopted team and follow their progress throughout the season.

The T.E.A.M./MAAC Gives Back program is highlighted by a team visit to the school when the team visits the Albany or Buffalo area. Classes who are part of the program also receive tickets to see their teams play when they are in town to take on Siena (Albany classes), Canisius and Niagara (Buffalo classes). The program concludes with the MAAC Basketball Championships, being held at HSBC Arena in Buffalo. In past tournaments, on the Friday of the tournament, players and coaches from the MAAC schools have held basketball clinics for all participating classes of the T.E.A.M./MAAC Gives Back Program.

In the past, teachers have used the T.E.A.M./MAAC Gives Back Program in various ways in their classrooms. Many use the pen pal aspect of the program to teach students the joys English and letter writing. Math lessons have been taught using statistics from the teams. Geography has also been explored using all the MAAC schools, which come from around the Northeast.

The Gaels visited the St. Margaret School during their recent trip to Buffalo.